Be sincere with your age.

Be sincere with your age.

By: Timothy Makokha

Can you accurately tell the age of a person just by looking at him or her? Many a time’s people have been insincere with their true age as it’s not easy to discover age from the outward look of a person. Few individuals discuss freely about their true age. People who are still ambitious say they cheat about their age with hopes that they work for long when they get employed.

Other men believe by cheating about their age, it makes them appear older and senior in society. These are the kind of men who give themselves more years when in real sense they are young. Some even go to the extent of sniffing tobacco and smoking cigarette, activities associated with the old to make them seem older than their real age.

Sometimes we come across boys who resort to walking with a walking stick; speaking in a hoarse voice and taking local brew in older to convince the general public that they are older.  Such scenarios are common deep in the villages, where you are likely to meet a boy with a very dusty nose as a result of sniffing tobacco.

Ladies and girls view the concept of age differently. Generally, women struggle to always remain as young as sixteen. This makes women to cheat their age allocating themselves a younger age, in order to sound or appear attractive. Some even resort to using deodorants whose side effects are harmful to their health but just to ensure they at least look younger. Some get burnt in the process of making hair but they never give up the chemicals for hair making.

We hear of cases where women don’t want to be referred to as mothers. Yesterday when I was in a matatu traveling to Bungoma town in the morning, there was a young man who requested a middle aged woman to move a little to give him space to sit but to my surprise she refused to be referred to as a mother.

‘Tafadhali mama songa nikae (kindly mum move a little for me to sit)’ said the boy. This made the woman very annoyed simply because she was referred to as a mother. ‘Nani mama? mama ni mama yako (who is a mother?  It’s only your mother who is a mother)’, the woman answered back while frowning.

A few isolated cases are said of men who also resist to be referred to as old men. Some even dye their hair in attempt to hide their grey hair. Sometimes in towns you will come across men who put on very tight pair of trousers and pocketing in a manner that makes them appear boyish.

Several questions have been asked about this issue of age. Some people have argued that if you want to know the real age of an individual, attend the burial of that person that is where the true age is likely to be revealed.

A similar case occurred in our home area during a burial of a lady who was known to have been born in the mid 80’s but when the eulogy was read her father stood to object whatever that was read about age of the deceased. ‘My daughter wa s born on 7/3/1975 being my first born child, not what has been read of the 80’s. I‘ve lost a very mature woman,’ said the old man. The truth came unexpectedly shocking to the funeral procession. Such revelations only occur on rare occasions but they are quite informative.

We’ve heard cases of people giving false date of birth on their ID cards and birth certificates. Such documents initially were meant to show a true record of birth of an individual but due to selfish reasons people have misused them.

During courtship, most people cheat about their age in order to please their partners. For instance, a woman would give an age that will make her appear young and more attractive.

Contrary to what some men do to make appear older, woman will use anything to make them look like 16 year old. And majority of women appreciate when someone comment to them that they look younger than their real age.

Some careers and occupations drive people into cheating about their ages. For example people in athletics and football, are likely to cheat about age in order to be in line with the set regulations about age limits for participants in the games.

We hear of under-17 years old football teams but when you look at the members of such teams, their faces and physique show something else. The same is witnessed in athletics where participants cheat about age in attempts to break record of the year in various categories.